Fiber Optic Sensing and SoP: CESNET at GÉANT Infoshare

Colleagues from the Optical Networks Division presented their practical experience in the field of fiber-optic sensing at the GÉANT Infoshare conference. This was not our first time participating. Back in December 2024, Jan Radil presented the basics of fiber optics at the same event. The February meeting focused this time on the potential applications of fiber optics through monitoring changes in the state of polarization (SoP) of light.

This method is not as widespread as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). Compared to DAS, SoP produces an order of magnitude less data, allows for the detection of higher frequencies, and is less costly. Its limitation is that it does not, on its own, allow for the direct localization of events. In its presentation, CESNET also mentioned possibilities for extending the SoP system with localization capabilities.

At Infoshare, we presented the Polbox device, used in the European SUBMERSE project, along with software tools for managing and analyzing the acquired data. The presentations indicated that CESNET’s results are very good and that there is room for further development, particularly in the area of data analysis, even with commercially available systems. A similar situation exists in the field of DAS, where commercially available systems generally do not offer event classification.

GÉANT also invited other companies active in the field of fiber-optic sensing to the meeting. The German company Novoptel introduced participants to the topic of SoP and presented its latest products for analyzing it. Tampnet, an operator of an optical network using submarine cables, provided an overview of its activities in the field of sensing. Nokia presented technologies for 5G/6G, optical, and IP networks.

The meeting confirmed that fiber optics remains an area with potential for further development and practical application.

A recording of the presentation is available online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6bW0nQDpnY